Police bust man who posed as NYPD cop in string of attempted robberies

A 36-year-old man who tried to rob five Brooklyn stores while pretending to be a police officers is now in custody, officials said.

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Arcelay Camilo walked into the Gourmet Deli and Grill on 18th Ave. near 63rd St. in Bensonhurst about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday sporting a blue T-shirt with an NYPD patch embroidered on it, authorities said.

He claimed to be a cop and demanded an employee give him money from the register.

Police are looking for a 36-year-old man they say tried to rob five Brooklyn stores while pretending to be a cop, officials said Tuesday. (Angel Zayas/for New York Daily News)

"A guy came with the police uniform, NYPD, and then he said (he was) from the drugs department and cigarettes," store worker Adel Mahran, 37, said Tuesday. "He walked in behind the counter to search if we have anything."

Camilo had his hand in his pocket as if he had a weapon but never showed it, police sources said.

He departed empty-handed as soon as store employees started pestering him with questions, Mahran said.

Arcelay Camilo. (Handout)

"(We asked), 'Do you have any ID? Who are you?' " Mahran said.

Camilo said backup was coming, but Mahran's colleagues quickly called that bluff and said they would wait for other officers to arrive.

"He just, like, ran — ran," Mahran said.

Police believe Camilo may be responsible for a series of five attempted robberies. (Angel Zayas/for New York Daily News)

Police released Camilo's photo Tuesday morning, and by the afternoon, a tipster led detectives to where they could find him, cop sources said.

Police believe Camilo is responsible for four other robberies over the last week. In all of them, he claimed to be a cop, officials said.

On Monday, a robber held up an Associated supermarket on 86th St. near Gelston Ave. and flashed a badge, cops said. He said he was going to check the tax stamps on cigarettes for sale but then demanded that a store clerk count out the money from two registers and give it to him.

But he left without anything, claiming he would be back but never returned.

Police also believe Camilo is behind a laundromat heist on Thursday in which $300 was taken, a food store robbery on Saturday in which $2,500 was taken and a deli robbery on Sunday when the suspect left empty-handed, cops said.